peters



JEAN B. J.l MIGNON- AND STAN ISLAS H. ROUART, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

Letters Patent No. 63,075, dated March 19, 1867.

IMPROVEMENT ne Armeense ron oonrnsssme me.

titte Seigehule referrer in in tigese tetters ieetent met meeting inet nf ite seune.-

TO WHOM IT MAY CONGERN: v

Bc4 it known that we, JEAN BAPTISTE JAVA, MIGNON, and SrANrsLAs Hanni RoUAn'r, of Paris',`n the Empire of France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in lApparatus for Exhaustingand Com pressing Air, applicable to thc transmission of dispatches and other objects through tubes, and to raising water; and we hereby declare the following to bca full,' clear, and exact description of the samc,'refercncc being had to the accompanying drawings. i

The object of' our invention is to provide means for producing the. exhaustion -or compression of air, dispensing at the same time with the employment of machinesA commonly employed for thispurpose; and our invention relatcs'lparticulnrly to those machines constructed forthc transmission of dispatches or other objects through tubes.

One of the drawings, Figure l, sheet 1, which accompanies this application, gives a theoretical represen. tation of the principle upon whichour invention is based; the details of which, although essentially the same, arc in almost every instance vai-ieder modified to adapt it to the particular connection in which it is used.

We lwill first describe, by reference to the above figure, the general principle which underlies our invention, to which principle we, of course, layno claim, and will then proceed to indicate, by reference to-the other figures, the method and means o r apparatus we have devised for practically applying and utilizing this principle to ,the transmission of dispatches and other objects through tubes.

Our apparatus is based upon the employment of water. Let it be required to effect the exhaustion of air. A reservoir, A, iig. l, sheet 1, completely closed,is.plaoed underneathy other reservoirs which can feed it with water bymeans of a cock, a. lthas a tube, be, provided with acock, d', and plunged into an open vessel or reservoir, B,'viilled with water. The minimumdistance which should separate the 'bottom of the reservoir A lfrom the upper level of the water in the reservoir B is 10m 33. The cock d being closed, the reservoir A is filled' with water from the reservoir above by opening the cock a. It is necessary tovprovide for the escape of the air by a lateral opening orfhole which should be carefully stopped or closed after 'the illing of the reservoir A. When the reservoir A is` llcd, the cock is closed and the cock d is opened; the water then -ilows froml the upper reservoir into the lower one, B,iand a barometrical vacuum will be formed in a short time in the reservoir A. Let it now'be required to compress the air. An open reservoir, C, containing water, ies-connected with a closed reservoir D, by a plunge-tube, e f, provided with a cock, g. The distance between the two reservoirs may be of any length, as, for instance, the beforefmentionedlQm 33. The cock gis opened, and the water flows from the re'sei-'voir C 'into the reservoir D through the plunge-tube ef, andthe air contained inthe reservoir D is compressed until its tension eqnilibrates'the pressure of Athe water. With such a difference between the level of the two reservoirs as wehave supposed, the air of the Vreservoir D would have a differential pressure of ene atmosphere with the external air. It willbe. readily understood that -the compression produced by means of the water in the reservoir C can be e'ectel as well by 'a chute leading from a Water-course, or by the direct connection of the reservoir D with a pipe-or conduit of the water supplied to cities'.

In these two operationsif the supply of water is exhausted, the same water may be again Yused by drawing or forcing it up, by means of pumps, into the reservoir. where it is needed. A. Thus, by these two means, we can either exhaust or compress the air. The vacuum obtained is almost perfect, and the compression is as 'great or as slight as desired, and may be effected upon volumes of air which are limited by nothing except the dimensionsof the reservoirs which may be multiplied to any'extent, and constructed of masonry and of great size. Ifl it be supposed that we are desirous of avail-ing ourselves of the forces and power which are accumulated on the reservoirs, for the purpose of transmitting dispatches' or other objects through a tube, it is clear that we can at pleasure cause the object to approach ort'o leave us. I

The first question, which is of great importance, is the construction of the tubing which should connect the points between which it is necessary to transmit or carry the objects. There are many solutions to this quesu tion, but we will here indicate particularly one method which lappears to us very practicable for conduits of a certain importance. 'The tubing isc'omposed of iron pipes constructed of as great length as' possible, and as tight, as exact in diameter, as polishedon the interiores ther most skillful workman can make them. These pipes are united togetherby moans of iron flanchos turned so as to form a male and female joint. Between the hanches of thc joint is placed a gatta-perche. disk. In this manner thc tubing may be extended to a great cngth, care being taken to form as few elbows 'as possible 'and to make any change of direction as gradually as zhe nature o' the work will permit. l

Whatsoever be the nature of the conduit employed,'we propose to place the objects to be transported in zarriages, the form of which is shown in Figure 2. These carriages are composed of a box of thin metal. The rear of the box, which approaches a concave form, is provided with aleather, formed of segments', placed fanlike one above the other, as is done in making a pump piston. The front of the box is provided with at least Four springs arranged at right angles, and intended to maintain the movement of the carriage parallel to the axis of the tubing. v

Such is a general description of the systemV which we propose to employ, and ofwhich the application comprises some details of a certain importancewhich we will now proceed'to'enumerate. We will speak r'st of the arrangement of cocks, so as to obtain an absolute tightness between the'plug of the cockv and its seat. To this end the seat is closed at the bottom, and thereforethe only passage through which the air can enter or escape is the annular space or circle between the plug'and 'its seat, which is almost. infinitesimally small, since the two seats are iitted together with the greatest possible precision and accuracy; and it' now a rubber diskV be placed over this line or space, and is strongly pressed there, the escape or entrance'of the air will be eiectually stopped, l f i AThis arrangement is shown in Figure 3, in which a represents the line of separation between the plug and its seat; b, the rubber disk; c, a metal disl pressed upon therubber disk by means of screw-bolts. When these cocks are made of large dimensions; they can be actuated with great ease and facility by means cfa 'worm and wheel. b

Figures 4 and 5 represent an arrangement ofthe organ or device in which the carriages actuated o'r moved by compression, and especially those carrying dispatches, are received and from which they depart. A. is a hollow post, which carries on its upper end a hollow pillar, B. The end of the conduit or'tnbingreaches up into the hollow post A, and the pillar B is connectediwith the compressed-air reservoir by means of a cock, B. The front face of the square part C, fig. 5, of the 'column B is provided with a little'door, closed by means of an eccentric-screw, and the lateral faces carry two tubes which connect with the cock R and commnnicate'with the open air. The cocks B. and B.' are actuated by the same screw or worm in such manner that their move-v ments shall bc contrary, therone being open during the closing of the other. When it is wished to dispatch or send off the carriage, the door is opened and the 4carriage put in head downwards; .the door is thenclosedand the cock R is opened, closing the cock R', and allowing the compressed air to strike against the carriage and to drive it-forward. If it be desired to bring back the carriage, 'the cock R is closed, which opens R', allowing the air expeiled from the pipe to escape through the lateral tubes t and t', and the carriage, continuing its movement, is brought back, being checked and stopped by the cushion of air in the upper part of the 4column B.

In order to remedy certain inconveniences which arise when it becomes vnecessaryto accumulate considerable volumes of air or'water, and `consequently to have reservoirs of large dimensions', we employ a doubleacting machine or apparatus, for compressing the air, composed ofA two reservoirs A A', Figure 6, dividedeach into two compartments, B B C C', by means of a diaphragm, a b a b. The pipes e de d', which conduct the compressing agent, debou'ch or open at the bottom of the compartments B B. At efef are the tubes for discharging the water, and two plates dr slide-valves g L g kfallow of the vtubes e d, c et', ef, ef being-opened or closed at pleasure. The arrangement'of the slide-valves g 7L g 7L is such.` that when lthe tube c al is closed,` c d and thetube ef will be open and the 'tubeef closed. The'eifect of movinglthe valves is to closethe two open-pipes and to open those which are closed. VThe daphragms -a'b a b' are each provided with a valve, K K', opening from below. The upper part of the reservoir carries two air-discharge pipes ZZ', the opening and closing of which are regulated by a thin platev constituting a slide-valve, the movements of vwhich are connected with those ofthe plates g k g z. in such manner that the orifice m will be open when the orifice e is closed, the orice m closed and the orifice e open.v At about the height of the' diaphragms are balance weightvalves pp', which are actuated by the slightest differential pressure, and whose movements should bearlsfuch relation to the waste pipes ZZ' that the valvep should be open at the same time with the pipe Landl the valve p at the same time withl the pipe-Z.

|llhe operation of the apparatus we have just described is as follows: Let it be supposed that the orifice c is open, and, consequently, the orifices e and `m, and the valve p, closed. The charge, orcompressin'g water, enters the compartment B, compresses the` air which it finds therein, lifts the valve K, compresses the air inthe compartment C, and, at the end of a rcertain time, the air in C will be compressed with a determinate pressure. This being accomplished, the system of valves is operated;` m is opened, and, at the vsame time with it, p e and C', the openings m 10"' and E being, on thecontrary, closed. The water which has accumulated in B thcn ilows out through e'f, the compressed air in G escapes, or is driven4 out, to be put to any desired use;v and the water owing into the compartment B through c d' compresses the air in C. The operation of the reservoir A, Figure 6, is such as we have just above described, and the action of the lreservoir A" during the second movement of the valves is similar to that of the reservoir A heretofore mentioned. In this manner the air lmay be exhausted such a number of timeswithin a-given space of time as to produce a continuous "action or How.

It now remains for us to indicate the steps to be taken in order to reduce to practice or toutilize the theo-` retical effects which we have analyzed. These effects may be put to a practical use provided the supply and exhaust orifices of the air and water are opened and closed conformably to the rules we have laid down.

The two cylinders or reservoirs can be placed side by side, as shown in Figure Under this arrangement the entrance of the water int'oithe compartments B B', the discharge o'f the air of the compartments C C', the discharge of the waterfrom the chambers B B, andthe riz-entrance of the air in to theplntter compartments, may be accomplished by meansof pipes arranged as shown in the di.a\vings}each pipe being provided with two gates orslidca'alves. -Ii Thus he water enters through, the tube 1 by means ot` valves c c; the air'is'exhausted through the tube 2 by means of the valve Z Z; the Water is discharged through the tube 3 by means of valves'e e', and the re-entrance of the air is eiected through the tube 4 by means of the valves pp. The four valves, Z op e,

oan'vbe arranged in the same plane, and the four valves'- Z cp, c are also in alike plane parallel to that of thcvalves Ze p e.

Figure 8 represents the arrangement ofthe eightvalves, the relative movements lof which cause the operation of' the machine.y The valve c being open, the others should be closed. It is therefore vnecessary that in drawing the valve c to c I the others should be in the positions ep Z, and for this purpose it is suihcient toplace them on thc twoA arms of the lever 1' s, s t, articulated at u o. The valves ep c Z are moved by means of levers r s t', articulated at a and v. The line r s t being parallel to the line r s t', it will therefore be suicient to give an oscillating movement to the line .s s', or to the middle point of that line, which may be done by means of the water through the intermediary of the sliding differential piston-valve ofthe single-acting machine. By an analogous arrangement of parts a machine may be made for exhausting the air, composed of two closed reservoirs A A', 5g. 9, into which the water enters, and then flows therefrom into an open reservoir placed at a distance of 10m 33 below the reservoirs A A. These reservoirs have a pipe, common to both, for supplying the air, a common inlet through which the water enters, a common outlet fordischargng the water, andan escape pipe, common to both, through which the air passes during the lling of the reservoirs. Each of these pipes,A like those of the air-compressing apparatus, is provided with two valves. It is necessary that the valves through which the water enters and the air passes out shall be open together; those through which the air re-enters and' the Water is discharged, being closed; and it is then further necessary that the valve for discharging the water should open and close alone by itself; and, finally, that the air-supply valve should open and then close. This series of movements is all that is needed to operate the apparatus, and may bc executed or accomplishedby means of valves arranged substantially as-hereinbefore described.

It often happens that in operating the apparatus we have described the head of water used to produce compression is greater than is needed for actuating or drawing the carriage in the interior of the tubes. In many eases the power or force may be utilized in order .to produce a saving of water; for, let it be supposed that the water which is used has ahead or power equivalent to iftecn metres, and that a pressure of five metres will suffice to produce the required movement. Three reservoirs, AA A, fig. 10, whose united capacity is'equal to a volume proportional to the pressure or head of the water, are placed vertically one above the other, the distance between each being five metres. The water is iirst caused'ito enter the reservoir A, where it compresses the airwhich is used to drive the carriage. As soon as this is done the water in A is used to compress the air in A', and the carriage is thus caused to make a second passage. lhen, by conducting the water from A to A, the carriage may be caused to make a third passage, so that the same water will do the same work three tim-es.

It will be understood that the illustration we have just used is only intended for the purpose of giving better and more definite expression to our idea, and that the apparatus may be varied to suit the particular purpose forvwhich it is used. In most instances it willfbe desired to direct the operation of the different reservoirs to one and the same point, and to this end the reservoirs A A A should be made of smaller dimensions, and a reservoir, B, of a capacity proportionate to'the size of thc others, placed on the ground nearthem. It should be connected with each one of them, so as to accumulate the compressed air when the others are successively ll'ed with water. If it be desired to produce slighter diferential pressures the distance between the reservoirs .maybe decreased so as to render the action of the apparatus almost continuous. In this case the operation may be made automatic in a very simple manner. Each reservoir should be divided into two compartments, thc

upper one for receiving the compressed air, the lower one for receiving the water by which the compression is produced. The upper reservoir should havea valve for exhausting the air, which should lift itself at a certain pressure, and a self-closing valve for admitting the air. The lower reservoir -sliould be provided with a valve for discharging the water, which should open of itself when the water" has accumulated'in sufficient quantity, and a valve for readmitting the air placed laterally in its upper part, and actuated by'slight differential pressures. I i

Having described our invention, what we cla-im, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The herein-described apparatus for obtaining the compression or exhaustion of air, the same consisting of one or more reservoirs, into and from which the compressing and exhausting agent is conducted so as to compress 4or exhaust the air within the same by nien-ns of supply and exhaust pipes and regulating-valves, arranged and operating substantially as shown and-set forth.

2. The combination, with two or more reservoirs,arranged as described, of the air and water-suppiy and exhaust pipes and their operating valves, connected with the said reservoirs in such manner as to eifect the continuous compression or exhaustion of air, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, with one or more air-compressing reservoirs, as described, of a hollow pillar or other tubular receptacle for the dispatches or other objects to be transmitted through the tubing, under the arrangement and for operation as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof they have signed their names to this specication before two subscribing witnesses.

J.. MIGNON, H. ROUART.

Witnesses:

F. G. RANDOLPH, G. 'REIN/uv. 

